This is one of my MOST FAVORITE recipes on SouthernBite.com. It’s so flavorful and super easy.
It’s been on the blog for quite a while, but recently I decided to give it a little revamp. I’ve made it even easier, quicker, and a little more reliable when it comes to getting the rice cooked perfectly – which has been a problem for a few in the past. 
The flavor is exactly the same, but the steps are a bit less cumbersome and I swapped regular long grain rice out for parboiled rice. Why? Well, a few reasons…
Parboiled rice, also sometimes called converted rice, is rice that is par-cooked with the husk on. Cooking it with the husk on forces a little of the nutrients from the husk into the grain that would ordinarily be lost when the husk is removed. While parboiling it seems like it would cook faster, it actually takes just a few minutes more to cook over regular long grain white rice. But that’s not a big deal in this case.
The real reason I like to use parboiled rice is the end product it yields. When it is parboiled, it removes a lot of the starch from the outside of the rice. This is a good thing. When it’s added to recipes and cooked through, you’ll end up with individual grains of rice in the dish rather than a sticky mush that sometimes results from using regular rice in a dish like this.
Can you use regular rice? You bet! But I much prefer the parboiled/converted in this recipe. I think you will too.
Recipe Card
Weeknight Chicken and Sausage Jambalaya
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1 pound cajun or andouille smoked sausage, sliced into 1/4 inch rounds
- 1 pound chicken breast meat, cubed
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 1 large bell pepper, seeded and chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 (28-ounce) can diced tomatoes, undrained
- 1 (15-ounce) can tomato sauce
- pinch dried red pepper flakes (optional)
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 1/2 cups chicken broth
- 1 teaspoon creole seasoning
- 2 cups parboiled rice (also sometimes called converted rice)
Instructions
- Heat oil in a large dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the sausage and chicken and cook, stirring frequently until the sausage has browned - about 5 to 8 minutes. Spoon the meat out of the skillet with a slotted spoon leaving the remaining oil in the pot and set the meat aside.
- Add the onions and pepper and cook, stirring frequently, until the onions are translucent - about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant - about 1 minute.
- Add tomatoes with juice, tomato sauce, red pepper flakes (if desired), bay leaves, broth, creole seasoning. Bring to a boil.
- Stir in uncooked rice and return the chicken and sausage to the pot. Stir well. Cover and reduce heat and cook about 20 minutes - stirring occasionally - or until rice is tender and most of the liquid has been absorbed.
